Pierogi to Prayer

On our episode today wehave two guests, Father Jonathan Sawicki of the Diocese of Harrisburg, and FatherStephen Robbins who is returning for his second appearance on our program. Similarin age and backgrounds, we discuss our understanding of faith as inherited fromour ancestors but also as to how it impacts the work of ministry today in a verydifferent Church. A Church which sometimes struggles to...

Our surnames can tell people a lot about us, notonly our national origin or heritage, but their also connected to those thathave come before us with the same name. For better or worse our names can causea form of prejudice unfairly defining us before we have a chance to defineourselves. St. Urszula Ledochowska was born to a long and illustrious line ofPolish nobility, yet in taking on the mission...

Welcome Back! In Part IIof our interview with Jan Ledochowski of the ancient Ledochowski Family westart to look a bit more at current events including the Ukraine-Russia War, aswell as some more stories about notable members of the Family who went on tosainthood and the highest levels of the hierarchy within the Church including a19th century Cardinal and 20th century foundresses of tworeligious o...

For anyonewho spends a lot of time metaphorically living amongst Polish History, you tendto see a lot of surnames that crop up again and again no matter the century. Leszczynski, Poniatowski, Radziwill, just to name a few round out a veritablePolish who’s who of movers and shakers. Another one of these surnames is sharedby our guest today, and it is this history that brings him to our program. Jan...

Have you ever felt as if by not taking a side, youwind up an enemy of everyone? Such was the case of the remarkable life of ourSaint of the Month, Blessed George Matulaitis-Matulewicz. A Lithuanian priesteducated in Poland he helped reinvigorate the Marian Religious Order and laterbecame Bishop of Vilnius during the turbulent post- World War I years. In alife dominated by suffering and struggle, b...

For centuries, the Polish-LithuanianCommonwealth was an imposing state dominating Central and Eastern Europe. This nation, made possible by a 14th century royal marriage, joined together two ethnicities who share a common history, yet who are also ethnically distinct. This relationship can sometimes prove cumbersome to our modern understanding of nationality and ethnicity.   Today we welcome Tom S...

St. Maximilian Kolbe has emerged as one of the mostwell-known Twentieth Century Saints to have emerged from the horrors of World War II in Poland. His story of self-sacrifice for a fellow prisoner in Auschwitz has made him a symbol of selfless martyrdom and Christian care for another. His work before his martyrdom can be seen as one of the original“influencing” movements through his use of radio....

This month we tackle the influencing craze as we sitdown with Krystian Nowak, a Polish Highlander living near Zakopane in the gorgeous mountain region of Poland. A native of Chicago with Polish ancestry, Krystian has taken to social media as an influencer to promote Highlander culture in his own unique way. Influencing has become an internet craze for bad or for worse, yet perhaps the true value o...

“Boys will be boys” as the old cliché goes. Yet such apithy saying to excuse the mischievous or rambunctious nature of children,masks the undeserved circumstances that children around the world findthemselves subject to that may produce such a behavior. Poverty, ignorance, prejudice,and socioeconomic factors can squash the potential of children before they evenget the chance. Our Polish Saint of t...

March is traditionally a month that is associated withthe Irish celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day. This month we take a page out ofthese celebrations to discuss the lives of Count and Countness Markiewicz. Apair of revolutionary personalities who straddled the boundaries between Polandand Ireland but also between counterculture and rebellion. Our guest, Dr. Lauren Arrington, author and professor o...

Regularlisteners to our Polish Saint of the Month reflection, are used to a particularformat. However, today we are going to do something a bit different. Since wehave already heard a lot about the life of Father Jerzy Popieluszko from ourinterview with Judith Kelly in our regular episode this month, we’re going tolisten to his own words from one of his homilies. The English Translation readwill b...

In October of 1984 at the young age of 37, Father JerzyPopieluszko, the chaplain of the Solidarity Trade Union was murdered at thehands of agents of the Polish Communist secret police. His martyrdom galvanizedthe nation and greatly influenced the events which led to the fall of Communismin Poland. In successive years, Father Jerzy’s message of non-violence and hislegacy of resistance to oppression...

Have youever considered what it would be like to put your life on the line for yourfaith? Our Polish Saint of the Month is Saint Melchior Grodziecki. A Polish Jesuitwho lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Listento his story of faith and reflect on this martyr of the Thirty Year’s War withus today. Music andSound Effects courtesy of freemusic.org 220118_1781-2_FR_ChurchOrgan.wavby kevp...

In 1952, a dramatic headline broke the news of a tragic murder in a London Hotel. The victim was Krystyna Skarbek, aka Christine Granville, a wartime spy who’s remarkable achievements make her the stuff of legend. With exploits that would outdo any James Bond novel, Christine’s story was largely told through a particular lens that didn’t necessarily do her justice. That changed in 2012 with the pu...

Our Polish Saint of the Month is Blessed Marcelina Darowska, a remarkable woman who overcame personal and family struggles to help make a difference in her embattled homeland. Sounds and Music courtesy of freesound.org Satie -Gymnopedie No.1 by GregorQuendel -- https://freesound.org/s/746982/ -- License:Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 LonesomeAngel by SondreDrakensson -- https://freesound.org/s/5436...

For many of us, the element that unites us throughgood times and bad is the cuisine of our culture. Indeed, the very title of our program “pierogi to prayer” contains a reference to the most distinctive food in Polish culture. One of the greatest expressions of this also comes out during the Christmas Season when Poles around the world gather for a myriad of Polish traditions and food. It is in th...

Our Polish Saint of the Month is St. Stanislaus Kostka. Listen to his story and reflect on a patron saint for troubled families everywhere. Chopin piece courtesy of: https://www.classicals.de/ Nocturne Op. 9No 2 in E flat major Piano for Meditation by SergeQuadrado -- https://freesound.org/s/740607/ --License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0   Biographical Information https://www.jesuits.global/sain...

Each November, the Catholic faithful across Poland journey to the graves of their family, friends, and ancestors toremember them, usually with the placing of the Znicz, or lantern in a magical display of light that emanates across the countryside. This honoring and remembering of ancestors have ancient roots and helps to infer the discussionwe have today. Over the past few decades, the study of ge...

As we close the last episode of our inaugural season,we welcome Temple University Music Professor, Dr. Michael Klein to talk about the great Polish born composer Fryderyk Chopin. The music of this particular composerhas captivate people the world over to convey the depths of emotion from film to theater. Join us this month as we waltz, polonaise, and mazurka our way through the complexities and be...

As we close the last episode of our inaugural season,we welcome Temple University Music Professor, Dr. Michael Klein to talk about the great Polish born composer Fryderyk Chopin. The music of this particular composer has captivate people the world over to convey the depths of emotion from film to theater. Join us this month as we waltz, polonaise, and mazurka our way through the complexities and b...

In September of 1939, World War II began on the verydoorstep of Poland. In this moving two-part episode, we share the painful stories of those in our parish family whose parents experienced firsthand the horrors of this war. Many immigrated to Camden under the Displaced PersonsProgram. These individuals, each of them haunted by what they had witnessed, attempted to rebuild their lives in peace and...

In September of 1939, World War II began on the verydoorstep of Poland. In this moving two-part episode, we share the painful stories of those in our parish family whose parents experienced firsthand the horrors of this war. Many immigrated to Camden under the Displaced PersonsProgram. These individuals, each of them haunted by what they had witnessed, attempted to rebuild their lives in peace and...

Each year, thousands of Poles walk in ceremonial pilgrimagefrom all over their country to the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa at the monastery of Jasna Gora in Southeastern Poland. This the most public display of devotion to a religious icon which has held prime of place in Polish history and culture for centuries. Likewise, Poles immigrating to the United States have carried this image to every...

In the 1920s Poland was engaged in rebuildingitself as a nation on the world stage. The eyes of her leaders turned towards her merchant marine and the ships that would fly under the Polish flag. In this era the pride of any nation was most visible in its grand passenger liners suchas Britain’s Queen Mary , France’s Normandie , and America’s United States . The construction of two ships for Poland’...

Fleeing across the Mediterranean from war-torn Europein the face of fascism, through dark forests with only the light from oil lamps to guide them, a Croatian family seeks refuge in Egypt before finding their way to safety in Camden, New Jersey to build their lives in freedom and safety...not the story you might expect to find behind the unique collection of first-class relics here at St. Joe's in...